Supporting mechanism.



A. SGHBIBLB.

SUPPORTING MEGEANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED 1320.22, 1909.

UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

ALBERT SCHEIBLE, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUPPORTING MECI-IANISM.

Application filed December 22,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT Soi-minne, citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Gool: and State of Illinois, vhave invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Supporting Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying dra wings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to supporting` mechanism and in all of its features is particularly serviceable' for use in supporting electric lamps, though the device of my invention is not to be restricted to this purpose.

Certain features of my invention are purely of a mechanical nature and in this aspect my invention has for its object the provision of improved means whereby a load elevated by a rope or line may be held independently of such rope or line after elevation, and whereby the same rope or line may be employed to lower the load.

hen the device of my invention is used to support electrical apparatus, such for example as an electric lamp, I employ improved mechanism for governing the circuit of such electrical apparatus, whereby when the apparatus is elevated and is supported independently of the elevating rope, the circuit of suoli electrical apparatus is closed or made effective and whereby when the weight of the electrical apparatus is transferred to the rope in the process of lowering such apparatus, said circuit is opened or made ineffective.

A large variety of mechanisms have been devised for performing the functions above outlined. The structure of my mechanism, however, is much simpler than the structures hitherto devised and the manner in which the circuit of the supported electrical apparatus is governed is much improved.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawing, showing the preferred embodiment thereof, 1n which` Figure l is a sectional elevation, certain portions being shown in of a supporting accordance with the of the invention; the right hand end of the structure as illustrated in Fig. l; Fig.

f portion of the structure as seen in the direction of arrow 3 in Figsl; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21., .1911. 1909. serial No. 534,434.

are views which are somewhat diagrammatic employed for the purpose ot' showing different stages in the operation of the mechamsm.

Like parts are indicated by similar characters of reference throughout-the different figures.

A. lifting men'iber.

need not necessarily be tubular. The rope is guided in its movements by means of ash lar extension g, shown in the drawing as being formed in a separate piece united with the balance of the housing, the bore of this tubular extension being adapted to receive the extension c, the vertical stretch of the being the condition of the mechanism as slot. 7a 1s of a dog m p'ivotally mounted between its ends upon the ears n that are integral with the tubular extension g, said dog lying` between said ears and moving in a. plane parallel therewith. As the portion c continues itsl elevation, it turns the dog m upon its pivot in a counter clockwise direction, said dog having its weight so distributed that it will occupy the position illustrated in Fig. 4 unless positively actuated, until the front vertical face of. the projection i is brought into line with the end surface o-f the engaged end of the dog, when rotation of said dog ceases. Further upward movement of the projection 7L will bring the angular recess 0 in the projection 7L` in line with the engaged end o-f the dog, whereupon said dog turns to a slight extent in a clockwise direction,- further 4movement of the dog in this direction being prevented by the stop i. Fig. 5 illustrates the positions of the dog, stop and angular recess o just described, hese positions being attained when the projection h engages the upper end of the slotc, that is, when the load has been elevated by the rope as far as possible. I of course do not limit myself to the use of the upper end of the slot` 7c for the purpose of stopping` the upward movement of the load and the member Z) that holds it. After the load supporting` member has been elevated as far as possible to bring the parts into the positions illustrated in Fig. 5, the end of the dog that is in the angular recess 0 moves slightly farther in a clockwise direction until it engages the vertical face. of the angular recess 0, whereafter draft upon the rope is removed to permit the projection 7L and the parts moving therewith to descend a slight distance to occupy the position illustrated in Fig. l. wWhen the parts are brought into the positions indicated in Fig. l, the load is transferred from the draft rope to the mast arm or .other supporting structure connected with the housing at f', the. load strain being transferred through the projection 7L, the dog m. and its pivot, the ears n., the tubular extension g and the housing f to the attaching element f. By reference to Fig. l, it will be seen that when the load is transferred from the rope to the housing structure, the dog m is clear of the stop z'. When the projection 'h is again elevated to its limit, the dog m, unrestrained by the stop i, is permitted to move in a clockwise direction to occupy the position indicated in Fig. 6. After the dog has thus escaped the projection h, the load supporting end of the rope and the parts moving therewith may be lowered, the dog m then not being in a position to prevent the descent o-f the load, said dog being rotated upon its pivot by the projection L until the projection dog, whereafter said dog jection so has cleared the lies above the prothat when the load is again elcrated, the parts are brought into the rela-- tion shown in Fig. l and the operationsl which have been described hitherto in connection with the elevation of the load and the transfer thereof from the draft rope to thel housing structure ensue.

Assuming that the structure which hasI been described is intended to elevate, support. and lower some electrical device, as an electric lamp, and assuming that the circuit of such device is to be established there-- through when it is supported independently of the draft rope and is to be made ineffective when it is carried by the draft rope, some suitable switching mechanism is employed having two members, one moving with the draft rope and the other secured to the housing. This switching device may be employed in a series circuit or in a con-- ductor connected across opposite sides .of a distribution circuit.

I have illustrated a switching device for including the supported electrical device se-l rially in the distribution circuit but of course do not wish to be limited thereto. One member p of this switching device carried by the housing f and the .other'member Q is carried by or is in fixed relation with the load supporting element CZ. The member p is in this instance in the form of two pairs of springs and the member g is in the form of two terminals for the supported electrical device. Vhen the load is supported by the housing, the member (l spreads the springs of the member p apart, whereby the electrical device is serially included in the distribution circuit since the springs of the member 2J are serially included in the distribution circuit. `When the load is lowered, the member g is separated from the member p, the springs of the member p coming into contact to maintain the series circuit intact. The member g mounted upon an extension-cl .of the base Z and has a plane of movement coincident with the slot 7c, and the companion member y; is disposed in this same plane, the contact faces of the switch members thus lying in planes coincident with or substantially parallel with the aforesaid plane. When the members p and g are in close proximity during the time that the load is being elerated or lowered, the relative movements between the housing structure and the support (I are conined to the plane which includes the member q and the slot lc, whereby there is appreciable movement of the member (j transversely of the length of the member 7) so that these members are not .only rubbed in vertical directions where they engage each other but are also rubbed horizontally so that the engaging faces of these members are to each other, owing to the clearance that exists between the elements c and g.

The slotted portion of the tubular eXtension g constitutes the preferred structural characteristic whereby the load and the partscarrying it are caused to move in a single vertical plane when the mechanism is being adjusted and operated to transfer the load from and to the support-ing rope or line, and by this guiding agency, namely the slotted portion of the element g, the load and the parts carrying it are prevented from rotating with respect to the housing, whereby I am enabler greatly to simplify the entire structure.

lhile I have herein shown and particularly described the preferred embodiment of my inventionI do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction shown, as changes may readily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, but,

Having thus described my invention, I claim new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the following l. Apparatus of the class described including a lifting member, mechanism for supporting a load elevated by the lifting member independently of the lifting member, said mechanism including a movable dog as one member and a projection as a second member, one of said members moving with the lifting member and the other being capable of supporting the load independently of the lifting member, and one of said members being capable of partially underlying the other after the load has been fully elevated and more completely underlying the other when draft upon the lifting member ceases and adapted to escape the other when draft upon the lifting member is resumed, said other member being adapted to escape said end of the first member when draft upon the lifting member is again removed, there being present means for causing the projection and dog to move in a substantially single plane when in working relation.

Apparatus of the class described including' a lifting member, mechanism for supporting a load elevated by the lifting member independently of the lifting member, said mechanism including a movable dog as one member and a projection as a second member, one of said members moving with the lifting member and the other being capable of supporting the load independently of the lift-ing member, one of said members being capable of partially underlying the other after the load has been fully elevated and more completely underlying the other when draft upon the lifting member ceases and adapted to escape the other when draft upon the lifting member is resumed, said other member being adapted to escape said end of the first member member carried thereby, another member with respect to which the load holding member is movable by the lifting member, a dog swingingly mounted between its ends upon one of said members, a dog engaging portion upon the other member, means for holding said dog in substantially the same plane with said portion when said members approach each other, said portion being adapted to engage one end of said dog to support the load independently of the lifting member, and a stop for engaging the othery end of the dog` to prevent the escape of the dog from said dog engaging portion when the load is lifted to its proper maximum height, the stop engaged end of the dog being in escaping relation with the stop when draft upon the load ceases.

fl. Apparatus of the class described including a lifting member, mechanism for supporting a load elevated by the lifting member independently of the lifting member, said mechanism having a portion moving with the lift-ing member and a portion that does not normally move with the lifting member, and means for causing the portion that does move with the lifting member substantially to occupy a single plane when in proximity to the portion complemental thereto whereby material turning of the load is prevented, in combination with a switch having one member mechanically connected with one of said mechanism portions and another member mechanically connected with the other of said mechanism portions, said members having contact faces lying in planes coincident with or substantially parallel with the plane occupied by the aforesaid mechanism portions when in proximity, the parts carrying said switch members permitting the switch members to swing or tilt with respect to each other in their plane of contact.

5. Apparatus of the class described including a lifting member, a load holding member carried thereby, another member with respect to which the aforesaid member is movable by the lifting member, a dog swingingly mounted between its ends upon one of said members, a projection upon the other member, means for holding said dog in substantially the same plane with said projection when said members approach each other, said projection being adapted to engage one end of said dog to support the load independently of the lifting member, and a stop for engaging the dog to prevent its escape from the projection when the load is lifted to its proper maximum height, the dog being in escaping relation with the stop when draft upon the load ceases.

(3. Apparatus of the class described including' a lifting' member, a load holding member carried thereby, another member with respect to which the load holding member is movable by the lifting member, a dog swingingly mounted between its ends upon one of said members, a dog engaging portion upon the other member, means for holding said dog in substantially the same plane with said portion when said members approach each other, said portion bel est/,175

ing adapted to engage one end of said dog to support the load independently of the lifting member, and a stop for` engaging the other end of the dog to prevent the escape of the dog from said dog engaging portion when the load is lifted to its proper maximum height, the stop engaging end of t-he dog being in escaping relation with the stop when draft upon the load ceases, in combination with a switch having complemental switch parts mechanically connected with said members.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this twentieth day of December,

ALBERT SCHEIBLE. itnesses G. L. Grace,

R. E. Afri-maroni.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

